Save America's Postal Service!
Letter carriers, other postal employees, and their families will rally in Charlotte and in Raleigh this Sunday against an unlawful edict by the Post Master General that would end Saturday mail delivery and add thousands more Americans to unemployment rolls at a time when our fragile economic recovery is not secured. Similar rallies are being held across the United States as part of a national day of action to save Saturday mail delivery.
Click here to read a fact sheet about America's Postal Service.
Rally goers will encourage U.S. Senators Kay Hagan and Richard Burr and all of North Carolina's U.S. Representatives to co-sponsor three bills in Congress - S.316, H.R.630, and H.Res.30 - that would keep six-day mail delivery.
At stake are over 35,000 good-paying, family sustaining union jobs and the ability of the U.S. Postal Service to deliver for millions of customers, including businesses large and small.
In early February, U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe announced he would take unilateral action to end Saturday mail delivery, despite Congress having adopted legislation to the contrary. “It will be disastrous,” says Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. “Slowing mail service and degrading our unmatchable last-mile delivery network are not the answers to the Postal Service’s financial problems.”
That network is the reason Postal Service rivals UPS and FedEx also happen to be its biggest clients. In fact, 80 percent of the USPS’ annual deficit has nothing to do with mail volume. The Postal Service, which receives zero tax dollars, has been required by law since 2006 to pre-fund its employees’ retirement 75 years in advance at a cost of $5.5 billion a year.
“Putting 35,000 people in unemployment lines should be a measure of last resort,” says Kannapolis letter carrier Fred Vance. “Fix the mandate first because cutting services drives away business, and that’s the opposite of what we need right now.”
What: Rally to save Saturday mail delivery
When: Sunday, March 24 at 2:00 PM
Where: Two locations in North Carolina
In Raleigh: Bicentennial Mall (across the street from the state legislative building, 16 W. Jones St, Raleigh, NC 27601)
In Charlotte: Carmel Post Office, 6300 Carmel Rd, Charlotte, NC 28226
Click here to download the flyer for the Raleigh rally.
Click here to download the flyer for the Charlotte rally.
The Postal Service isn't broke, but is facing a current shortfall due to a congressional mandate to pre-pay for costs that won’t be due for decades. Reducing services would only hurt our communities across the country – and will hit senior citizens, small businesses and rural areas the hardest.